


the future's in our hands and we will never be the same again

by lyfthemuffinmoth



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Gerry will get sprinkled into the polycule later, It/Its Pronouns For Michael | The Distortion (The Magnus Archives), M/M, Mary Keay's A+ Parenting, Multi, all pronouns gerry, canon typical spiral fuckery, he/him michael, he/they og elias, og elias/rosie qpr rights, plot will happen at some point i promise, read the cws please, that exists just to make the polycule happen, the eliasmichael is established, the time travel au absolutely no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:14:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27641944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyfthemuffinmoth/pseuds/lyfthemuffinmoth
Summary: Suddenly he heard a loud crash behind him. He turned around, startled by the noise. “What the hell-” he exclaimed, spotting two people lying on the floor, looking like they'd fallen off a bookshelf. Gerry glanced up at the ceiling to see a bright yellow door.Well. That explained a lot.The green haired one groaned a little. “Jesus Christ, this feels like the worst hangover I've ever had.” they sighed. The other elbowed them a little. “We fell out of a neon ceiling door, Eli, what did you think it would feel like?”-Elias goes into the Spiral to save Michael. Instead they end up somewhere completely unknown.title from things we lost in the fire by bastille
Relationships: Gerard Keay/Michael Shelley, Original Elias Bouchard & Rosie, Original Elias Bouchard/Gerard Keay, Original Elias Bouchard/Michael Shelley, Original Elias Bouchard/Michael Shelley/Gerard Keay
Comments: 16
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i noticed that there is none of this ship on ao3 and that is a sin so by all means enjoy my attempts to fix the timeline so it can happen
> 
> cws for this chapter: panic attack, mentions of mary keay, one account of accidental misgendering that is immediately apologized for and corrected

The Spiral dealt in weird things. Elias knew this. It wasn't exactly a secret. It was like it said on the tin. It made your mind Spiral, Twist and Turn, tricked your senses and made you stumble. 

Still, jumping into it was probably a bad idea. A really  _ really _ bad idea. Thinking back though, Elias didn't regret it. 

It began when Michael had announced that he and Gertrude were going away to somewhere. Elias had sighed and bitten his lip. That couldn't be great news. So he decided to sneak along with the two. Just to be sure Michael was safe. 

It had not ended... well. At all. Michael had gone  _ inside _ the Spiral's ritual and Elias had paused to think for one second before running inside after him.

He walked for a  _ long _ time. He didn't know how long. He walked through twisting hallways and neon corridors that made no sense, until finally,  _ finally _ , he spotted Michael. 

He hurried over to him. He looked so confused and intensely disoriented. Betrayed even. 

Elias gently took his hands. “Michael. Hey. Hey, breathe.”

He didn't have to hold Michael's hands to see that they were shaking. 

“E- Eli- It's- It's all wrong, everything wrong and bad and-” 

“Hey, no no no, none of that, we'll get out of here, alright?” 

“Alright.” Michael murmured. He didn't seem convinced.

Elias squeezed his hands. “All we have to do now is… find a door. A way out.” 

“I've- I've tried that, it doesn't- I can find any d-” 

“Strength in numbers, right, Mike? We'll find an out. Scouts honor.”

“You're not a scout, El-” 

“Oh haha, you get the point.” 

Elias let one of Michael's hands go and as if magically timed, a door covered in spirally patterns showed up right in front of them. The two took a step towards it. Elias reached his hand out towards the doorknob. 

“Alright. Let's go.” 

* * *

Gerard Keay was currently very tired with his work. Gertrude had asked him to look into some bookstore, saying that it maybe had some Leitners. He picked up a book and tossed into the air a little before inspecting the cover. Not a Leitner it seemed.

Suddenly he heard a loud crash behind him. He turned around, startled by the noise. “What the hell-” he exclaimed, spotting two people lying on the floor, looking like they'd fallen off a bookshelf. Gerry glanced up at the ceiling to see a bright yellow door.

Well. That explained a lot.

Gerry sighed. “Look, Micheal, if you wanted to meet up, you should’ve just te-” He stopped himself once the two began to move, both sitting up a little, which let Gerry get a better look on them.

The person on the left had messy neon green hair and a face that needed to be shaved, which betrayed their natural hair colour. Their eyes were a striking icy blue and currently looking very confused. They were wearing a pair of jeans, a colorful shirt and a denim jacket covered in pins and buttons. 

The person on the right was wearing a soft looking jumper with a pair of jeans and a winter coat, which Gerry found odd since it was the middle of summer. He had a collection of striking blonde curls that went all the way over his shoulders and a pair of coffee brown eyes.

They both were familiar and yet looked nothing like how Gerry knew them.

The green haired one groaned a little. “Jesus Christ, this feels like the worst hangover I've ever had.” they sighed. The other elbowed them a little. “We fell out of a neon ceiling door, Eli, what did you think it would feel like?”

The left one, ‘Eli’ apparently, groaned and weakly shoved the right one. “Oh shut up, Mike.” they said

Gerry cleared his throat and the two looked up at him. “Can I help you?” he asked.

Eli got up, gripping a bookshelf. “Yes hello ehm we seem to have gotten a bit lost. Do you maybe know where we are?” they asked. 

“You're in Bertie’s Books, bookstore here on the corner.” Gerry said, seeing Mike get to his feet as well. 

“How is it this warm already-” Eli sighed. “It was like… February when you left with Gertie.”

Mike sighed. “Do you really. Have to shorten everyone's name, Elias?” 

Elias laughed. “Yes, yes,  _ Mike _ , I do.”

Mike groaned. He turned back to Gerry. “Hi, I'm Michael, this is my idiot partner Elias.”

Elias shoved the other a little again, but Gerry could tell it wasn't meant to cause harm. They both laughed a little.

Elias held out their hand to Gerry. “Like Mike said, I'm Elias. Though most people call me Eli.”

Gerry took his hand, shaking it with a confused expression on his face. “Right right, I'm Gerard.” he muttered. “Hey ehm just out of curiosity, you two wouldn't happen to know the Magnus Institute?”

The two shared a look. “Ehm. Yes. We work there.”

Right. Not weird at all.

“Right. Well, ehm.” Elias took off their jacket and tied it around their wrist. “This is getting weird.”

Gerry laughed. “You’re not wrong about that.” they said.

Elias took a step towards him. “We should be going.” they sighed. They looked a little unsteady on their feet.

Gerry raised an eyebrow. “Woah careful.” she said. “You're gonna fall.”

Elias shook their head. “I'll be  _ fine _ .” they said. They took one more step and then their knees gave out and they fell into Gerry’s arms, grabbing onto her jacket for support. “Okay maybe not.”

Gerry sighed and gently lowered Elias to the floor. “My place is just around the corner.” she said. “I usually don't bring strangers over, but you two seem like you need something doctors generally do not give you.”

Michael sighed. “Right. Thank you.” he said. He moved over to his partner, helping them. “Up you go, Eli.” he sighed, giving Gerry an apologetic smile. 

She sighed, helping them to their feet. “Alright, come on, let's just go.” she said. 

* * *

A little later, the two strangers were sitting on Gerry's couch as they prepared them both some coffee. Why were they even doing this? It was nothing like them, but they were confused by both of them. 

They walked over before pausing halfway when they heard the two talking. Surely listening in for a little couldn't hurt. 

“I'm telling you, Mike, they look  _ just _ like him!” 

“Still, it's rude to ask, Elias.” 

“But-” 

“Don't you 'but' me-” 

“They look just like Eric!” 

Gerry flinched at a sudden shattering noise, only to realize it was the noise of the mugs they'd been holding, breaking on the floor after they'd dropped them. They sighed. “Fucking great.” 

Michael showed up around the corner soon after. “I heard a loud noise, is everything-” He spotted the broken mugs. “Oh. What happened?” 

Gerry's hands were shaking, they noticed. “I- I'm fine. It's fine.” they said. They didn't look fine. 

Michael sighed. “No offense, Gerard, but you don't look fine. I'll go clean this up, you need to sit down.”

“But-” 

“Please just sit down. Elias is better company than you give him credit for.” 

Gerry sighed. “Alright alright fine. But I owe you one.” 

They moved over to the couch and sat down next to Elias. “No coffee I'm afraid.” they sighed. 

Elias chuckled a little. “It’s fine.” he said. “I heard you… drop some things. Is everything okay, man?”

Gerry tensed a little. “Not a man. And I’m fine.”

Elias widened his eyes a little. “Shit. I’m sorry.” he said, giving them an apologetic smile. “Eh… Pronouns?”

“All of ‘em, honestly.” they said. “Doesn’t really matter to me.”   
  
He nodded. “Alright. He/they for me and I believe Michael goes by just he/him.” Elias explained.

Gerry nodded. “Alright.” they said softly. 

“So… You wanna talk about whatever is bothering you?” he questioned.

Gerry scoffed a little. “I may have overheard your conversation.”

“Our- Oh.  _ Oh. _ The thing about Eric. Are you sure he’s not like… your long lost twin or something?”

Gerry laughed a little. “I’m pretty sure I would know.” they hummed. They leaned back a little, messing with one of their bracelets. 

“How did you- eh- how did you know him?”

“Did- How do you mean 'didʼ?”

“He’s- he’s gone. You… you do know that, right?”

“He isn’t dead, I saw him just this morning-”

Gerry scoffed. “He’s been dead for years, that’s bullshit.”

“I saw him at the institute this  _ morning _ . Him and his wife anyways. God that woman gives me the creeps.”

Gerry paused. “That is- that is impossible, she's dead, she's supposed to be  _ dead _ .” 

Elias's face shifted into a concerned expression. “Shit- Are you okay?” he asked gently. 

“She died- she died years ago, she's not  _ supposed  _ to be back, she's-” 

“Gerard. Breathe.” 

Were they breathing? Their breath was speeding up, wasn't it? Heh. They supposed it was. They felt two hands coming to hold theirs. 

“Hey. You're safe. Breathe.” 

Gerry tried not to flinch away from the unfamiliar hands. They were fairly soft and he ran a finger over a ring around one of the fingers, which got a small laugh out of the person who they assumed the hands belonged to. 

“That’s it.” 

Gerry looked back up at Elias.    
  
“I’m sorry about all that-” they said softly.

Elias shook his head a little. “Don’t be, it’s fine. Sorry if I said something that upset you, Gerard.”

Gerry bit his lip. “Gerry. She used to call me Gerard- I- Can you call me Gerry?”

Elias grinned back at him. “You got it.” he said softly.

Michael came back out of the kitchen, looking fairly shaken. “There’s- Please tell me your calendar is wrong.” he said, looking at Gerry. 

“No- No I don’t think it is.” Gerry said. They let go of Elias’s hand and glanced back at Michael.

“Why?”

“Because. That calendar says it’s 2013.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosalin Rodriguez was having a remotely calm day. Answering another email from HR. Re-organising her desk. Trying not to poison her boss’s coffee. You know, the usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise I'm not dead! I'm sorry I took so long, but I'm here now and with other chapter! I hope you enjoy :)
> 
> the cws for this chapter are in the endnotes :)

“Okay. Okay. Please tell me one more time.”

“It’s June 2013.”

“And you’re  _ sure _ .”

_ “Yes.” _

Elias pinched the bridge of their nose. “Jesus Christ, how did that even happen?” 

Gerry glanced at them. “I-” she sighed. “It does explain why you two are so different.” 

“Different… You mean you know future-us?” Michael asked. 

“Yup- And you've both really  _ really  _ changed.” she said. 

Elias looked back at Gerry. “Sounds whack. So. Anyways. Do you have any idea how this happened?” 

“It- You fell out of one of Mic- one of the Distortion's doors.” she said. 

“The- The weird ass Spiral doors?” 

Gerry took a deep breath. “Yes,  _ Eli _ , the weird ass Spiral doors.” she deadpanned. 

“Should we- Would it be bad if we saw our- our future selves?” Michael questioned. 

Gerry hesitated. “I- I would assume so.” She'd seen enough movies. She probably needed to keep those apart. 

“Okay. Okay.” Elias said. “So- Old lady Gertie probably knows what’s going on right? At least enough to maybe… help. So shouldn’t we go to the Institute?”

Gerry paused. “That does seem like the logical option…” she muttered. “But we’d have to keep you away from your future selves.”

“You mean we still work there? Oh christ.” Elias sighed.

Gerry shook his head. “Not Michael, just you.” 

Elias sighed. “I guess Michael finally got some sense then.”

Michael elbowed Elias and Elias laughed. “Joking, joking.” he said softly.

“Okay. So we just have to avoid Artifact Storage. Or wherever it is I work now.”

“You’re eh-” Gerry paused, not sure how to say it. “You’re the head of the Institute. Actually.”

Elias started laughing. “You’re joking. Really? Me?”

“Wish I was. You’re not exactly the best boss. I do not know what happened, but you are very different from this timeline - you.” Gerry paused. “Wait, no, that’s confusing. I mean, you, the time traveler are quite different from you, the head of the Institute.”

Michael let out a small laugh. “I guess that makes sense.” he hummed softly. “What about me?”

“You’re-” Gerry got cut off when she heard a creak. She turned around to see a bright yellow door with a familiar figure in the doorway. 

“Hm. That’s quite odd, isn’t it?”

Michael stumbled back. “Holy shit- That’s- That’s me.” 

Gerry groaned. “Really not a great time, Michael.”

The Distortion laughed. “Time is a funny thing, isn’t it?” It spoke softly. “I mean, just look around you.”

She sighed. “Please just- Take your weird hallways somewhere else, Michael.”

“Hmm… No, I don’t think I will, actually.”

Elias took a deep breath. “What the hell happened to you, Mike?”

It laughed again. “Funny. I suppose in a way it was your decision that caused this  _ wonderful  _ butterfly effect.”

“What does that even mean?”

“When Michael walked into the Spiral because the Archivist asked him to, this time’s version of you did not go after him. And therefore I am what I am.” 

“But now I did… And it brought us here.”

It clapped its hands with a smile that had way too many teeth. “Exactly! So now I have become Michael, but I should not have become Michael at all. It is- A paradox. I have brought you here, but bringing you here should have caused me not to exist.” It chuckled, an awful noise. “Wonderful how you can play tricks on time like this, don’t you think? I wonder what your Archivist will think of this.”

Gerry groaned. “Michael. Cool it on the Spiral fuckery and please get out.”

The Distortion tilted its head a little. “I thought you wanted to get to your Institute. I thought it would be nice of me to offer you a shortcut. You have been telling me to be nicer, haven’t you?”

She pinched the bridge of their nose. “Alright fine. But if you even try to hurt anyone-” 

It laughed. “I know, I know. Death and pain and destruction.” It grinned at Gerry. “You can trust me, remember? I’m your  _ friend _ .”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

She turned back to face Elias and Michael. “Well. Follow me I guess.” she said softly, moving towards the yellow door.

Elias and Michael exchanged a look. Elias reached for Michael’s hand and took it with a sigh. “Let’s go, then.” they muttered.

And so all four of them walked through the door, to the Institute.

* * *

Rosalin Rodriguez was having a remotely calm day. Answering another email from HR. Re-organising her desk. Trying not to poison her boss’s coffee. You know, the usual.

She absentmindedly tapped her pen on her desk, biting her lip as she finished another email to David in HR. He was great and all, but he’d tried to ask her out many times, despite her telling him that she was  _ not _ interested all those times. So, what if she slipped some passive aggression in that email? It wasn’t like it would get her fired. No. No, she was pretty sure nothing could get her fired.

“Rosie?”

She perked up her head, turning to where the noise had come from. “Mr. Bouchard.” she spoke softly. She hadn’t called him Elias in a long time. He wasn’t Elias, after all. 

“Would you mind getting some files for me, from down in the Archives?” He questioned, handing her a small piece of paper. A list of statement numbers, most likely.

She crossed her arms and turned in her chair to face him. “Hm. Right. I’ll be back in a little.”

She stood up, her ankle long skirt hugging her legs as she moved towards the basement of the Institute. She tucked her pen behind her ear and sighed as she walked, tapping her fingers against her leg. 

She moved into the Archives. It was empty, as usual. She wasn’t surprised. Gertrude was mostly out, working with some supernatural consultant. Whether it was Leitner or Dekker or Salesa, Rosie didn’t really care. She was just happy Gertrude wasn’t there. The woman never seemed to like anyone and she looked like she was born with a permanent frown. 

Rosie sighed as she flipped through pages. God, the Archives were a mess. Grossly unorganised. She picked up a few more tapes and written statements before she heard a loud crash. She flinched and almost dropped what she was holding, before taking a deep breath.

“Hello?” she called softly.

She heard muffled voices, but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

She looked around the Archives for something heavy, just in case she needed to defend herself. After a while of looking around, she found a wooden baseball bat in a corner. She has no clue what it was doing there, but it looked sturdy enough to be used as a weapon if she needed one.

The voices were getting closer now, she could tell. They were coming from the breakroom, so Rosie moved to stand next to the door opening of the entrance to the Archives that came out of the breakroom. That way they could not see her, but she could see them as they walked out.

At least. That was the plan.

Rosie didn’t know what happened, but as soon as the voices came close enough, she heard the footsteps dying a few feet before the entrance. Then, before she knew, she was being hit with a strong force and being tackled to the floor by… someone. 

They looked familiar. She was pretty sure she’d seen them around. Dark hair, tattoos, eyeliner. Probably a new ‘associate’ of Gertrude’s. 

She groaned. “Jesus Christ, mate, get off me.” she hissed, the bat rolling out of the palm of her hand. 

“Two things.” The goth spoke. “One, that’s my bat, so you shouldn’t have taken it. Second, who are and what the fuck are you doing here?”

Rosie glared at them.. “Jesus Christ, I work here! Just because you’re friends with the ‘Archivist’ or whatever, doesn’t mean you don’t have to be rude. I’m the receptionist, asshole.”

Her attacker seemed surprised by that. “So what were you doing down here?”

“The big boss wanted me to get some statements. I heard a loud noise and thought someone was breaking in, so I got the closest thing to a weapon I could find, which was your lovely baseball bat.” She took a deep breath. “Now can you  _ please _ get off me.”

They backed off and gave her an apologetic smile before turning to the entrance out of which they’d come. “It’s safe! You can come out!” they called.

Rosie stood up and glanced at the door opening. Her knees then buckled when she saw who walked out, and she just barely managed to grab a nearby desk to keep herself upright.

This wasn’t real. This wasn’t real, it couldn’t be. He was- He was gone. He was replaced. He was  _ dead _ .

And yet he was right there.

“Oh shit- Are you alright?” The person with the bat spoke.

“I’m-” Her voice was shaky. “-fine. I’m fine.” she said, getting to her feet.

“You moved to work for the big boss man? Oh the betrayal-”

He moved over to her. 

She staggered back. 

“ _ Get _ away from me.”

“Shit, Rosie, it’s just me.”

“No. No, no, no, no, no, he’s gone. You’re not real.”

“Rose, breathe.”

“This isn’t real, this isn’t-.”

He moved to gently touch her wrist and she instinctively pulled her arm away. 

“ _ Don’t  _ touch me.”

“Alright. It’s alright. Look at me.”

She dared to look into his eyes.

Their icy blue hue was not cold at all and they looked worried, but calm.

Wait.

They were  _ blue. _

They weren’t gold like they’d been for the past decade.

They were  _ blue _ .

Rosie let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding in and basically threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He seemed surprised, but quickly returned the hug. 

She didn’t even realise she was crying until minutes later. She let out a quiet laugh, voice thick with tears. “I’m sorry if I ruined your shirt.”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry about that, Rose.” he muttered softly. 

She looked back up at him and slowly let him go. She then hit him on the shoulder,  _ hard _ . 

“Ow! What the hell, Rose?”

“Don’t you dare ever scare me like that again! Where the fuck have you been, Eli?”

Elias gave her a small smile. “Oh yeah. About that. I sorta came… from the past?”

Rosie paused. “You’re joking.” she said.

“Wish I was.” he sighed. “I don’t know what happened to future-me, but judging by your reaction, it was not great.”

Rosie laughed bitterly. “That, it was not, no.”

She wiped at her eyes a little. “How do you even get here?” she asked.

“Distortion.” The goth spoke up. “I’m Gerry, by the way.”

“Rosie, short for Rosalin.”

“Pleasure.”

“Likewise.”

“Suppose that means the old lady’s not in then?”

Rosie shook her head. “It would seem that she’s not. Probably why Magnus asked me to go down now. Can’t help but feel like even he is afraid of her somehow.”

“Hold up,  _ Magnus _ ? As in Jonah Magnus?” Elias questioned.

Rosie sighed. “The one and only.” she spoke. “What I wouldn’t give to slit that man’s throat, I swear to god-”

“Woah- You’ve grown aggressive while we were gone.”

Rosie raised an eyebrow. “Michael?” she questioned. “Christ, this day is just full of surprises, isn’t it?”

“It seems that it is.”

All four of them turned to look at where the noise was coming from. In the doorway to the Archives stood no one other than Jonah Magnus, although he currently looked like Elias Bouchard.

Elias made a noise that was almost a gasp. “Oh my god, I really lost my style, didn’t I?”

“Looks like it.” Michael added.

Jonah crossed his arms. “Mr. Shelley. It has been a while.”

Rosie sighed. “Oh, cut the crap. What do you want?”

“Isn’t it possible that I am just happy that one of my employees that had gone missing has returned?”

“Yeah, no, considering that you’re basically a Disney villain, I’d say it’s not.”

“Miss Rodriguez, really. Since when are you so rude? This is no way to speak to your superior, is it?”

“Oh piss off. What are you gonna do,  _ fire _ me?” 

She sat down on a desk and crossed her legs.

“Yeah okay, I’m confused.” Michael spoke up.

“Second that.” Elias added.

“I have to admit, I don’t follow either. What have I done to upset you like this, Rosalin?”

Rosie laughed, obviously bitter. “Do you want me to make a list?” she said, crossing her arms. “I don’t know,  _ Jonah _ , but I feel like possession of someone I care about falls under things that I can be upset about.”

Elias paused. “Hey, hey, wait, hold on. He did what?”

“He stabbed out your eyes, killed you while doing so and then possessed your body because he’s a coward who’s afraid of death.” Rosie said plainly.

Gerry groaned. “Just when I thought this place couldn’t get any worse.”

Jonah raised an eyebrow and looked at Gerry. “Mr. Keay. You are free to leave if you want. You don’t even work here, after all.”

Gerry sighed. “Okay back up. First of all. Not a ‘mister’ or whatever. Second, I feel like I should stay. You-” they pointed at Jonah. “-are a slimy bitch. And if what Rosie is saying is true, you have a nasty case of god complex.”

Elias paused. “Keay. You’re- Oh Jesus Christ.” he sighed. “Sure, why not.”

Jonah moved his hand to the inside of his jacket and took something out. That was- Oh shit well okay, that was a gun.

“So here’s what’s going to happen. Gerard, you are going to go upstairs, get out of the Institute and pretend this never happened. Michael, you are going to go back into those lovely hallways until you Become. And as for you two.”

He looked at Rosie and Elias. 

“Let’s talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cws: mention of posioning (doesnt actually happen), sudden violence, a panic attack, misgendering (one time), threats of gun violence, just general jonah being a bastard, please let me know if i missed any
> 
> yes michael distortion uses it/its  
> also i didnt specify this but elias and rosie are in a qpr
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and please leave a comment and some kudos, they really make my day!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!!  
> please leave me some kudos and comments if you enjoyed, those always make my day :))
> 
> stay safe and stay rad!  
> big love <33


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